Reclaim Bangor’s waterfront

Please don’t give away Bangor’s waterfront in the name of economic development. The city’s current plan calls for significant commercial development in the 36-acre parcel between Main Street and the Penobscot River. We recommend that the waterfront be preserved as a park to be enjoyed by the people of Bangor and visitors to the area.

People want to walk along the water; whether it’s in Boston on the Charles River, in New York City’s Central Park, in Portland or Bangor. Water is a powerful draw. Many downtowns, including Bangor’s, are built on the waterfront – a resource that was often wasted in the past. Today we have a chance to save Bangor’s waterfront.

The city must never give up ownership of the waterfront. The area should be zoned to allow only recreation and related uses. It should be a park!

. A waterfront park that covers a significant area will encourage a healthy community and active lifestyles with walking and jogging trails for walkers, runners, rollerbladers and cyclists.

. A park should be for people with children and pets.

. A park should include river walks, trails, trees, lawns, water fountains, playgrounds, a skatepark, an amphitheater, athletic fields, outdoor markets, food vendors and festival space.

. A park must offer public access to the river with docks, tour boats, boat launches and fishing piers.

. A park should provide great access and a new sense of connection to downtown for pedestrians, cyclists and cars.

. A waterfront park must be a clean, safe and welcoming environment with good lighting, security, clean restrooms, drinking fountains, seating, trash receptacles and signage.

. A park should preserve great views of the river.

. A park should be available for year-round use with skating, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and other winter activities.

. A park should celebrate Bangor’s maritime and lumbering heritages and rich history with interpretive signage, forestry and boating artifacts, links to museums and cultural organizations.

. A park will foster activities like the American Folk Festival and the July 4th fireworks celebration on an ongoing basis.

We must think big. It’s clear that Bangor needs an integrated, comprehensive redevelopment strategy for the waterfront – a strategy that will result in broad public use and enjoyment of this most precious resource.

We must think big and look at the Bangor waterfront as the start of a greenway, a riverfront trail system, extending from Old Town to Bucks-port. We must connect the waterfront park to the wonderful network of 30 parks and green spaces that already exist in Bangor – jewels like the 650-acre Bangor City Forest, Cascade Park, Essex Woods and the trail along Kenduskeag Stream Parkway.

We must think big. River walks, trails and parks have a huge positive impact on quality of life and on our economy.

The land on Bangor’s waterfront should be for the people of Bangor and their descendants to utilize and enjoy. All great cities have large parks for the public to enjoy. Portland has the Eastern Promenade Trail, Deering Oaks and the Back Cove Trail, among many others. Boston has the Boston Common and hundreds of acres along both sides of the Charles River. Bangor is a great city and must retain its public space.

We will benefit from big-picture thinking. Simply trying to bring more businesses, including a hotel, to the waterfront may hurt the amenities the waterfront can provide. A well-planned, publicly owned park will mean an increase in the value of the private property around it. Waterfront revitalization will become a catalyst for economic development, not only in downtown Bangor, but in neighboring communities as well.

Please don’t give away Bangor’s waterfront. Instead, build a great waterfront park in Bangor. And spend the money to manage, maintain, improve and expand that park. Don’t expect the park to pay for itself. It’s not supposed to; but a good park will attract development nearby in downtown Bangor – and beyond.

Reclaim Bangor’s waterfront, don’t give it away.

Peter Daigle is chief operating officer of Lafayette Hotels in Bangor.